20 May 2004

I always knew I was a TV hunk...

Well, thanks to some cool software, I have figured out one of life’s riddles - that being: Which movie stars do I look like? I’d long been told that Ed Begley, Jr is the one I most resemble (or is it the other way around?). However, according to this nifty tool that Tim Samoff pointed me to on his blog, I’ve found that I share facial features with (drumroll please)… Well, you can find out for yourself here. Hopefully the link stays “live” for a few days. Enjoy.

19 May 2004

Indie rockers... Cali Mex...

Well, simply writing the last entry got me all fired up again to write a new blog entry.

I’ve had the good fortune to come across some great new music lately, and I wanted to share the following two “finds” with you.

Iron and Wine

I was really knocked off my feet when I heard Sam Beam’s soothing baritone voice matched perfectly with his mellow guitar and backing accompanying instruments and vocals. I think a review in Entertainment Weekly said it best:
“launches balloons of sweetly whispered regret over trance-inducing backwoods string arrangements and watches them float away, his heart in tow.” Check it out.

The “doh!” award goes to yours truly, who, in arranging a “date night” with Holly, decided that there’s “no way Iron and Wine will sell out at the Holoscene, so I’ll just wait to buy tickets at the door.” Well, that logic worked about as well as abusing Iraqi prisoners and documenting it with hordes of pictures. The show had sold out way before Holly and I dropped Hannah off at the sitter’s house for the evening. We ended up having a great time out alone at the Moon and Sixpence (one of our favorite Portland neighborhood English pubs) instead, but we were really bummed to miss the show.

Calexico

Now, I don’t know about you, but Mexican music has always intrigued me. The only problem with it was that I didn’t speak Spanish and I didn’t like the pop stars of Mexico. HOWEVER, give me some trumpets and big acoustic guitars, and I’m golden. When in SFO (San Francisco airport code - I’m a geek, we know this) a couple weeks ago for a conference, I was able to do a little music shopping at the Virgin Records superstore downtown. The only great album I found was an EP by a Tuscon band called Calexico. The music is a perfect blend of Mexican Mariachi horns, and GET THIS - English lyrics! Woohoo! I’m home. This music, especially off of this album and the bands earlier LPs (such as the full-length album The Black Light which includes one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I’ve ever heard: “Minas de Cobre”), is soul-stirring in beauty and lyrical creativeness. Take a listen - I’m sure you’ll have the margarita mix blending by the time the first track is finished.

I'm tired...

I haven’t had the energy or creative muse to write anything. Hence, it seems that there must be cycles of creativity during the life of an average person (i.e., me).

Even as a means of communicating with friends and family, the blog has taken a nosedive. I’ll write when I feel inspired.

In other news, we’re going to give Vonage a try for phone service. Vonage is a VOIP (Voice Over IP) service which uses a hardware device to adapt your regular phone to your broadband connection. The prices are amazing - unlimited local and long distance for only 30 USD per month. International calls are only 2-5 cents per minute. So, we’re going to give it a go and see what happens. I’ll write a review once we get it going (in a few weeks).